Every year, there are plenty of college football all-star games for prospects to choose from. From California to Florida and many places in between, seniors from across the country get invited or choose which event they want to attend in an effort to be noticed by pro teams.

I’ve had the privilege of attending most of the major all-star games across the country over the last six years, and had the even higher privilege of contributing or working for more than a few. It’s one of the great things about having a talented staff at Optimum Scouting and focusing on scouting moreso than hits, tweets or mock draft rankings, but on actual ways to help the scouting community, both players and professional teams.

And that’s why I’m excited to promote our newest client, the third annual Dream Bowl in Virginia Beach, Virginia this year. We have been and will continue to do the evaluations and many of the media works throughout the year for the event, working to build on the Dream Bowl reputation that, while it doesn’t have national focus, certainly has built up a strong reputation for the right reasons.

The most important attribute of an all-star game that has its sights on longevity (again, in my experience), is making it as focused on supporting the players and teams as possible, with far less priority on making money. Investing in a worthwhile game early on has led to the great success of the Senior Bowl over the years, the staple of all-star game success, and focusing the attention on players and personnel has a domino effect on scouts, media people and television interest.

As an event focusing on the small schools, it’s not easy finding talent that entices both NFL and CFL teams. But thanks to the Dream Bowl having remarkable experience and success in hosting an event like this, making the players feel celebrated yet prepared and focused for an important tryout and the commitment by the game’s founder Neil Malvone, the game is heading in a direction that should be long sustained and further increase it’s already prevalent professional team interest (based on scouts interest in previous years.

The game has built a great reputation with the right people: past players and professional teams looking for talent for their rosters. Now in its third year, Optimum Scouting is aiming to provide the Dream Bowl with the talent evaluation aspect they had been missing in those previous years to increase the talent pool to the entire game providing CFL or NFL interest, not just a handful. It’s not an easy task, and we’ve been working well through the summer to generate NFL interest as well as find the top prospects across the country.

So, if you’re a media person or a fan of the draft, I’ll look forward to helping you along the evaluation pathway to finding the top small school “sleepers” that have become a key factor in NFL draft scouting. And if you’re an agent or a player, I encourage you to learn more about the game, realize why choosing a game is about where you can promote your skills and be appreciated and use me as a resource to be considered for the event.

Optimum Scouting will be there. Professional teams will be there. Some of the top FCS, Division 2 and Division 3 talent will be there. And if you’re a player who wants to shine from the lower levels of football, use the Dream Bowl to reach your Dream Job as a professional football player.